Brush the back of a white rhino and weigh it – spend a night at a Kansai “animal inn” alongside African wildlife

Reported and photographed by Chen Hanyin / Hsinchu

Every time you visit the zoo, you can only admire wild animals from a distance. Want a special experience of getting up close to them? Located in Kansai, Six Luck Resort Eco Hotel is Asia’s first animal ecological experience hotel. During Children’s Day, it launched the Kids’ Africa Fun Festival, inviting Tinga Tinga painting masters and African chefs to let visitors experience authentic African flavors through sight, sound, and taste.

▲ Wake up at Six Luck Resort in Kansai and see African wildlife right outside your window.

▲ A Tinga Tinga master teaches children how to paint colorful animals.

As Asia’s first animal ecological experience hotel, the resort features 164 African safari-style rooms that can accommodate 2 to 6 people. Open the windows and you’ll see live giraffes, rhinos, foxes, and other wildlife right before your eyes, making guests feel as if they’re in the natural grasslands of Africa — experiencing African charm without leaving the country.

▲ Rhino Ahua and her baby “Peanut Candy” – rhino calves in the park are usually named starting with the last part of their mother’s name.

▲ Keepers guide children in brushing a white rhino’s back.

In addition, Six Luck Resort is committed to the care and conservation promotion of South African white rhinos. South Africa is the world’s largest rhino habitat, yet countless rhinos die each year due to poaching. To promote the conservation of endangered species, the resort also offers the public the chance to sign up for close encounters with white rhinos — brush their backs and weigh them. Six Luck Village has also officially opened an Ecological Education Pavilion on-site, using its facilities to introduce related knowledge, helping the public learn about rhinos and the conservation of wild species, and teaching children to love and respect life.

▲ A guide leads children into the Ecological Education Pavilion to promote rhino conservation awareness.

From the children’s holiday period to mid-June, the Kids’ Africa Fun Festival event has invited East African Tinga Tinga contemporary masters Abbas Rafiki (Abbas Rafiki) and Mustapha Yusuf (Mustapha Yusuf), as well as African guest chef Juma Hassan (Juma Hassan) to Taiwan. They teach both kids and adults how to create their own vibrant Tinga Tinga paintings, and also allow them to enjoy authentic flavors from Tanzania, offering a wild and unique holiday experience.

▲ The colorful murals in the park are painted by Tinga Tinga masters.

▲ An African chef demonstrates the authentic African dish “Ugali.”

Address: No. 60, Gongzigou, Ren’an Li, Guanxi Township, Hsinchu County